Friday, November 30, 2007

For more than a decade, the writer Taslima Nasrin has been fighting; fighting against the courts, fighting to be heard and fighting for her life. Last night, the Bangladeshi-born author was struggling again as violent protests in one city – and the purported threat of further violent protests in another – saw her shuttling across India to avoid angry Muslims who have accused her of insulting Islam.

"I have no place to go. India is my home and I would like to keep living in this country until I die," the Sakharov Prize winner told The Hindu newspaper. "Here in this country, I have got the love and sympathy of the people for which I am grateful."

On Thursday, Nasrin was forced to flee from the city of Kolkata where she has been living for the past two years, a day after Muslim activists led protests against her which resulted 50 people being injured and the imposition of a curfew. The All India Minorities Forum, a Muslim group, has demanded she be deported not just from Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, but from India.

But after one night in Jaipur, Rajasthan, the authorities there decided that Nasrin should also leave to avoid the risk of a repetition of violence. "She didn't inform the government of Rajasthan before coming here and as she requires high security we asked her to leave," the Home Minister, Gulab Chand Kataria, told reporters. As a result Nasrin was last night headed to Delhi, and presumably further controversy.

Controversy is nothing new for the writer. Having fled from Bangladesh in 1994, Nasrin has long been confronted by people who do not like what she has to say. After slipping out of Bangladesh where she was charged with blasphemy, the feminist writer spent many years in Sweden, before moving to Kolkata, a city with a long literary tradition. While her books have been translated into more than 20 languages, her first four autobiographical volumes remain banned in Bangladesh.

It was supposed to end on December 6 but was abruptly canceled today because someone must've complained.It now displays the message "This listing (270192422059) has been removed or is no longer available. Please make sure you entered the right item number."Mohammed The Bear (2007 - 2007).

Lord Ahmed, Britain’s first Muslim peer, is due to meet President el-Bashir of Sudan today in an effort to secure the release of a primary school teacher jailed for blasphemy.

A source close to the Sudanese Government said that it would consider offering Gillian Gibbons a pardon so she could fly home within days.

Ms Gibbons was being held at a secret location last night after hundreds of protesters, some of them wielding knives and ceremonial swords, called for her execution.From her cell, the 54-year-old teacher from Liverpool said that she was devastated by the offence she had caused. “I would never insult anybody intentionally. People who know me know it’s not in my nature,” she told Kamal Djizoulli, her lawyer.

The Miami Herald calls it a Venezuelan paradox: much oil, no milk.I call it what happens when a megalomaniacal dictator practices his own zany brand of socialism...much to the detriment of the people. (Paging Sean Penn. Paging Danny Glover. Paging Naomi Campbell. You can bet they had leche for their coffee when they visited. Funny how you're not hearing much from them on this.)

The lines formed at dawn and remained long throughout the day -- hundreds upon hundreds of Venezuelans queuing up to buy scarce milk, chicken and sugar at state-run outdoor markets staffed by soldiers in fatigues.

President Hugo Chávez's government is trying to cope with scattered shortages of some foods, and long lines at state-run megamercal street markets over the weekend show many Venezuelans are willing to wait for hours to snap up a handful of products they seldom find in supermarkets.

''You have to get in line and you have to be lucky,'' said Maria Fernandez, a 64-year-old housewife who was buying milk and chicken. She said trying to find milk is a constant frustration. She had almost managed to get powdered milk at a private supermarket -- only to watch someone else walk away with the last can.

Iraqi security forces arrested dozens of people, including the son of a leading Sunni Arab politician, in a pre-dawn raid on Friday after a car rigged with explosives was found near the lawmaker's office.

al-Reuters goes on to offers up their patented "incident threatens to increase political tensions, sectarian divide, blah-blah-blah before getting to the point.

The incident threatened to increase political tension across Iraq's sectarian divide at a time when violence has been falling dramatically.

The Shi'ite-led government said Adnan al-Dulaimi, leader of the Accordance Front, the main Sunni Arab bloc, could be stripped of the immunity from prosecution he holds as a member of parliament if he was found to have links to car bombs.Seven people were arrested on Thursday at Dulaimi's office and 29, including Dulaimi's son Mekki, were seized in a raid early on Friday at Dulaimi's house, said Brigadier General Qassim Moussawi, security spokesman for Baghdad. "We have also found quantities of weapons and uniforms of the army and police at the home of Dr. al-Dulaimi," he told Reuters. "Dulaimi's bodyguards are suspected of having links to car bombs and killings. There are confessions against them."Nice. The guy runs a charity which doubles as a car bomb factory. There's some zakat for you!

The wreckage of a four-wheel drive vehicle could be seen on the road outside a charity run by Dulaimi next door to his main offices in Baghdad, where security forces detonated the car after discovering it was rigged with explosives on Thursday.Moussawi said the car bomb was found when security forces chased a suspected fugitive involved in a shooting into Dulaimi's compound.

The U.S. military said one of Dulaimi's guards had a key to the car that was rigged as a bomb. Two bystanders were hurt when one of the guards escaped, and five American soldiers and one bystander were hurt in the controlled blast when the car was destroyed, the U.S. military said in a statement.

Sounds like the guy is not only a rotten bastard he's a sore loser as well:Dulaimi's bloc quit Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government in August and has so far rejected efforts to lure it back. It says it wants a greater say in security policy.

It wasn't a parent that complained about Mohammed the bear. It wasn't an Imam that complained about Mohammed the bear. It was aMEMBER OF THE SCHOOL'S STAFFthat complained...

...Staff from Gibbons' school, including Robert Boulos, the head of Unity High School, were present.

Boulos said he was "horrified" when he found out it was a member of his own staff who complained, not a parent as originally thought.

Defense counsel later confirmed that the complaint came from Sarah Khawad, a secretary at the school.

Gibbons has been working at the school -- popular with wealthy Sudanese and expatriates -- since August, after leaving her position as deputy head teacher at a primary school in Liverpool this summer, Boulos said.

He said Gibbons asked the children to pick their favorite name for the new class mascot, which she was using to aid lessons about animals and their habitats.

but don't turn against the Muslims, folks! Oh no, we wouldn't want to do that now, would we?

Her son, John, from Liverpool, has not yet been allowed to telephone her but was hoping to fly out to Sudan to visit her as soon as a visa could be arranged.

He stress that British people angered by his mother's jail sentence should not turn against Muslims.

"I don't not want this to lead to any anti-Muslims feeling in this country.

"Everyone has been very nice, we have had a lot of support from Muslims in Britain, in Sudan and across the world.

"My fear, and one of my mother's fears, is that this will result in resentment towards Muslim people. "That is something I really hope does not happen and I am sure my mum feels the same way."

Yeah, maybe. If she gets out of there alive.

Monkey Tennis Centeroffers sage commentary and has a round up of comments about the situation that will make your hair stand on end.

Other than among Islamic hardliners, you would think that the plight of British teacher Gillian Gibbons, who faces jail and 40 lashes in Sudan for allowing her pupils to name a teddy bear Mohammed, would elicit near-universal sympathy.Not so, judging by the comments of a sizable minority of commenters on the BBC's website, who appear to think that Mrs Gibbons deserves everything she gets. This is just a selection of their views (brackets are mine):

Also read an independent report in Guardian, probably based on Reza’s post.His post was an indicator that Ahmadinejad’s repeated claims of “living a simple life” are more of a propaganda issue than anything else. Reza’s post irritated the state to the extent that the state-run news agency Fars News talked to “a person in the security teams” who “emphasized that Dogs are used all over the world for security purposes” [Persian]. While dismissing Reza’s report about the price paid for the dogs, the official admitted that Dogs are of indeed of a German breed, but that “they are trained by Iranians”. The official then went on by saying, “The recent propaganda about the dogs is a psycho-war, geared towards weakening the security teams”. Answering to Reza’s question about the consideration of dogs as filthy animals in Islam, the official stated, “There are fatwas that using trained Dogs for security purposes is not against the Sharia”.

The Dubai Municipality’s decision to round up certain select breeds of dogs under local order No.11, which comes into effect on January 1, has caused much consternation among some dog lovers.

The notice, which appeared in the newspapers on Wednesday, says Dubai Municipality will impound 16 particular breeds of dogs, including the American Pit Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Husky and Shar-Pei, and “will deal with them as per municipality rules and regulations.”

K9 Friends Chairperson Jackie Ratcliffe said the notice remains unclear and has caused panic among dog owners, with many continuing to call up the organisation yesterday for additional information and clarifications.

However, Ratcliffe said she could only refer enquiries to the Dubai Municipality.The Dubai Municipality, meanwhile, maintained that people who live in villas could keep just one dog.

Hisham Fahmi, head of the Veterinary Section in Dubai Municipality, earlier told Khaleej Times that people who live in apartments were not allowed to keep dogs.

“People are allowed to keep just one dog if they are staying in a villa. Those staying in apartments are not allowed to keep dogs,” he said.

A woman lawyer, who owns dogs and has rescued three dogs from K9 Friends, including an American Staffordshire Terrier, a Pit Bull and another breed of fighting dog, said she was shocked when she saw the notice this week.“Our dogs are not just pets, they’re part of our family,” she added, echoing the sentiments and anxiety of many passionate dog lovers like her.

Pigs' heads dumped at site of proposed Islamic schoolTWO pigs' heads have been dumped at the controversial site of a proposed Islamic school in Sydney's southwest.The pigs' heads, planted on wooden stakes on the Camden site, with the Australian flag draped between them, are believed to be in protest of the Muslim school proposal.The proposed school, for up to Muslim 1200 students on 15ha and wedged between market gardens and pastures, has been highly controversial.A public meeting held in Camden earlier this month attracted more than 2000 people opposed to the development.The local council also received several thousand written objections during the planning approval process.

Update 2: Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse at the CNN You Tuber (tuber - potato plant - get it?) Debate. Not only is there another plant, this one is courtesy of CAIR! (h/t Michelle Malkin)9. Concerned about the Iraq-Afghanistan conflict and the damage it has done to the image of America, Undecided, Hijab wearer Yasmin = Former CAIR Intern Yasmin. Update: Looks like the plant count is rising - here's two more courtesy of Powerline:7. Concerned about Social Security, Undecided Adam Florzak = Quit his job to work on Social Security reform with pal Dick Durbin, Adam Florzak.

Garment shop owners in northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar are removing mannequins from their displays or covering them up with clothes following threats from militants.

A meeting of the shopkeepers' association of Karimpura in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), on wednesday discussed the threatening letters from militants. The association decided to either remove the mannequins from shops or cover them up fully with clothes.

The word 'women' must now be replaced on Iranian state television by 'family', reformist Norouz news agency reports. In programmes broadcast throughout the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against women last Sunday, Iranian state TV used the world family instead. In recent weeks, Iran's Centre for the Participation of Women changed its name to the Centre for Family Matters.

Musharraf assumes presidency as a civilian, opponent Nawaz Sharif calls him illegitimate and urges purge of Supreme Court. Which is funny because when Sharif was in power his supporters stormed the Supreme Court to force the Chief Justice from office. Ah, politics! Oh, and about Sharif?Sharif's appeal is largely to conservative, religious sections of the electorate. While he is regarded as a moderate he is also seen as a politician more likely to appease radical Islamists than either Bhutto or Musharraf.

One more thing about Sharif.He's not out of the soup yet.A National Accountability Court (NAB) will take up corruption cases against brothers Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif in Rawalpindi on December 5, a senior NAB official confirmed here.

Deputy prosecutor general Zulfiqar Bhutta said the cases against the Sharifs were activated in August this year before Nawaz Sharif had made his failed attempt to return from exile in September. Interestingly, the warrants of arrest issued against Nawaz before his September 10 landing in Islamabad were still valid and Sharif could be arrested if the NAB so wanted.

“I have no idea whether NAB chairman has withdrawn the arrest warrants or not,” the deputy prosecutor general said.

About Imran Khan? He's not going to participate in the upcoming elections - calling them afraudulent poll.

While almost all top leaders of the government and opposition parties have filed nomination papers, under protest, Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf, is the only exception.

He insisted elections under Musharraf had already been rigged.

(Imran, if anyone's fraudulent around here, it's you- you cast your infidel wife Jemima Khan aside to satisfy the radical Islamists you were courting for political support. Yet she still stood up for you when you went to prison and went on that fraudulent hunger strike - end of rant.)

Even better news, unfortunately it's not the best news:Troops seize Fazlullah's base. Fazlullah on the run. Looks like the villagers got in on the act, too - destroying the militants fortified bunkers after the militants headed for the hills.Troops on Wednesday seized Maulana Fazlullah’s base in Swat, where nearly two weeks of clashes have killed around 250 militants, officials said. “Security forces entered the town of Imam Dheri, the main base of Maulana Fazlullah,” provincial government spokesman Amjad Iqbal told AFP. The whereabouts of Fazlullah, however, remain unknown.

“He has gone underground,” the official said. Security sources in the area said the cleric’s close aides have also fled, including his spokesman, Maulana Sirajuddin. They quoted residents as saying they [Fazlullah’s men] were seen heading for the mountains. Iqbal said security forces were in “complete control” of a large stretch of Kabal district after shelling suspected insurgent locations with artillery and mortar fire.

Pro-Taliban militants have warned residents here not to put musical ring tones or pictures in their mobile phones, witnesses said on Wednesday. A pamphlet distributed in Khar, the main town of Bajaur district bordering Afghanistan, also told people not to shave their beards, listen to music or smoke cigarettes and hashish. The pamphlet, handwritten in Pashto language, also forbade tribesmen from leaving their homes without caps or to carry weapons without permission from the militants.

Here in the US aPakistani image repair team is swooping down on Capitol Hill to explain why Pervez did what he did. Huh, maybe they can give San Fran Nan and Dingy Harry some image repair tips while they are there - talking about needing your image repaired...(and head examined.)

Nuclear material seized yesterday by police in Slovakia included enriched uranium capable of being used in a ``dirty'' bomb Slovak Deputy Police President Michal Kopcik said.

Police arrested three people, two in Slovakia and one in Hungary, for trying to sell less than half a kilogram (1.1 pounds) of the substance. The material's origin is not certain, although police believe it may have come from the former Soviet Union, Kopcik said, speaking at a press conference alongside Hungarian police officials.

The seized substance was uranium 238 and 235 in powder form, Kopcik said. The material was supposed to be transferred from Hungary, he said. The suspects were arrested on both sides of the Hungarian-Slovak border in a joint operation between the two European Union countries.

``The material was even more dangerous because of its powder form,'' Kopcik said today in Bratislava, Slovakia. ``It could be used for production of a dirty bomb.''

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

The Slovakian police today arrested three people for trying to sell more than 2 pounds of radioactive material, a police spokesman told ABC News.The radioactive material was seized near the border of Ukraine, between Slovakia and Hungary, Slovakian police spokesman Martin Korch said. He did not know the type of radioactive material seized, and the police did not reveal any information about the alleged intended buyer.Related StoriesTwo of the suspects were arrested in eastern Slovakia, the other in Hungary, in a coordinated Slovak-Hungarian police operation, Korch told ABC News. He said the suspects, whose nationalities he did not identify, had been under surveillance for several months by both Slovak and Hungarian authorities.

Specialists were examining the radioactive material, which the three were trying to sell for $1 million, said Korch.

But one expert says that dollar figure may be misleading.

"The $1 million figure might be suggestive that it was serious material," nuclear security expert Matthew Bunn of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University told ABCNews.com, "but it is also often the case that these smugglers have greatly exaggerated notions of the value of what they have."

Bunn pointed out that until further examination of the material occurs, it is impossible to know whether or not the seized material is dangerous or dubious.

"It could be low-enriched uranium (of which 1 kilogram is basically valueless and not important), could be some kind of radioactive source (in which case the 1 kilogram figure likely refers to the source plus its container), could be highly enriched uranium (in which case 1 kilogram would be the biggest incident in years), could be plutonium (in which case 1 kilogram would be the biggest case ever), could be various forms of unimportant radioactive trash," said Bunn.

Tomorrow a news conference is scheduled with the head of Slovakia's police, Gen. Jan Packa.

A Dutch conservative lawmaker said Wednesday he is making a film to highlight what he describes as "fascist" passages in the Quran, his latest high profile criticism of Islam.The interior and justice ministers said they were concerned, but believed they had no authority to prevent the lawmaker, Geert Wilders, from screening his film.Wilders plans to depict parts of the Quran he says are used as inspiration "by bad people to do bad things."

Less than 10 minutes long, the film is expected to air in late January. It will show "the intolerant and fascist character of the Quran," said Wilders, whose anti-Islam campaign helped his Freedom Party win nine seats in parliament in last year's election.

In the past, Wilders has said that half the Quran should be torn up and compared it with Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf." He has claimed the Netherlands is being swamped by a "tsunami" of Islamic immigrants.

Immigrants from Muslim countries number about 1 million of the country's 16 million people.

Wilders' planned broadcast is reminiscent of the film "Submission" — a fictional study of abused Muslim women with scenes of near-naked women with Quranic texts engraved on their flesh."Submission" director Theo van Gogh was shot and had his throat slit by a Muslim extremist on an Amsterdam street in 2004. Prominent Muslim critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who wrote the screenplay, was threatened in a note left on Van Gogh's body. She now lives under round-the-clock protection in the United States.

Miss Esther over atIslam in Europeprovides some insight into the Muslim response - threats of violence ala the punk jihad riots in Paris - oh, and the massive boycotting of Dutch products. (like that worked out so well in Denmark.)

Abdelmajid Khairoun of the Dutch Muslim Council deplores the plans of Geert Wilders to make a film about the Koran. According to Khairoun, Wilders' film plans are not really news. The head of the PVV continues to provoke.

"We fear the worst if this becomes reality. Then on any given moment the last word will be up to the youth on the streets. And we can then not hold them back. Just look at France."

Khairoun also expects many negative reactions from abroad, compared with the affair of the satiric cartoons about the prophet Muhammad in Denmark, two years ago. "Other countries will not understand it. I'm afraid that many Dutch products will be boycotted."

The justice, foreign and home affairs ministers, who are worried about a backlash from Islamic countries, have warned Wilders about the risks of screening such a film.

Justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin stressed that while Wilders is free to express his views about the Koran, he also has a responsibility towards society in general. ‘Think about the what the repercussions could be,’ he said.

If the film is hard-hitting, it could evoke hard-hitting reactions against himself and others,’ says the minister. Those who want a free debate must show respect for all religions and for things that are sacrosanct for others, he said.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

A record number of low-level radioactive materials, the kind terrorists could fashion into dirty bombs, have gone missing in Canada this year, raising concerns about the effectiveness of federal controls over nuclear materials.

News of the jump in thefts and lost material coincides with an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting in Europe at which nuclear counter-terrorism specialists were told this week of an almost four-fold increase in nuclear smuggling since 2006, a further indication that al-Qaeda-inspired radicals may be trying to obtain radioactive material for a bomb....As of Wednesday, 26 radioactive sources have been reported lost and stolen so far this year in Canada, compared to 15 last year and a dozen in 2005, according to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), the federal nuclear regulator.Fourteen devices this year remain missing, twice as many as last year when six were not recovered and almost three times the five still missing from 2005.

Such a pity. It looks like AQ is running into some financial difficulties. From the folks over at Counterterrorism Blog.

“Oh Muslims !! this is a call for you from the fighters to the entire Muslims. Following the campaign against Islam to dry its sources, many of the people who support this religion suffer from lack of equipments and basic means for their Jihad, after the belief in Allah. The situation became really bad. Imagine brothers, that some of them carry weapons with no ammunition. Sometimes they have no food or place of refuge. I see you calling for Jihad day and night without implementing it, as if the Jihad is just carrying weapons.

Brothers, in many cases the financial Jihad is not less than Jihad by fighting (Al-Jihad bil-Nafs). How could the Mujahid fulfill his huge tasks without weapons? Or without the support for his family while he is away or martyred?

The Noble Qur’an gave the financial Jihad a great priority. It is always compared to the Jihad by fighting as two sides of the equation. Moreover, in all the Qur’anic verses that record the two, except for one verse, the financial Jihad has a priority over the fighting Jihad.

… From these verses and stories, the significance of the financial Jihad is clear. The infidels spend their money to fight [the supporters of] Allah, and their reward, at the end of the day, is only defeat. Should not the believers spend their money to strengthen the basics of religion and enable its spread in the world? No one can claim that he owns nothing. I tell him, don’t you know any wealthy Muslim? Approach him and encourage him [to donate]. We know how far the infidels (Taghout) are suffocating the finance of the Mujahidin, and how dangerous it is.”

Cochran adds:The picture is clear and the call seems to be genuine. There is also an interesting element in using the term Taghout for “those who suffocate the finance of the Mujahidin.” This term is used for the Arab or Muslim governments, rather than the U.S. or other Western “enemies.” This might be an indication to the cooperation of Arab governments in this field.

A 20-year-old Malawian, Eric Nyirenda, made a second brief appearance in court yesterday in connection with the daring break- in at the Pelindaba nuclear facility west of Pretoria two weeks ago.

Nyirenda, who lives on a plot in Broederstroom less than 15km from the facility, is suspected of being part of the gang that breached security at the complex.

A security chief, Anton Gerber, was shot in the chest during the incursion. He is recovering at home.

Nyirenda’s case was postponed to November 28 in the Brits Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

He is provisionally charged with attempted murder and armed robbery.

Police spokesman Superintendent Louis Jacobs said the investigating team hoped to make more arrests soon: “That will enable us to figure out exactly who played what role in this crime.”

The chief executive of the SA Nuclear Energy Corporation, Rob Adams, said that six of Pelindaba’s senior security staff had been suspended pending an internal investigation into the attack, which he described as having been carried out by “technically sophisticated criminals”.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

At today's annualturkey pardoning ceremonyW made a funny and said that his Vice President's suggestion for naming the turkeys was LUNCH and DINNER. You just had to laugh.

It's a lucky day for a couple of turkeys. President Bush is pardoning them in the annual pre-Thanksgiving photo-op at the White House.

The national bird and its backup are from Indiana and each weighs about 45 pounds. They'll be spared a dinner table fate and then flown to Disney World in Florida, to live in Mickey Mouse's backyard at the Magic Kingdom.

Presidents since Truman have pardoned the birds. But the event has been updated in recent years to include a bird-naming contest, with votes cast on the White House Web site. The nominees this year include: Wing and Prayer, Jake and Tom and Wish and Bone.

Video raises Qaeda fears in Maldives(First it was Swat, the Switzerland of Pakistan and now Himandhoo Island, an Indian Ocean paradise. These AQ creeps love to go screw up tourist economies, don't they? I love the sound of Himandhoo Island, but I don't think I'll be buying a ticket there anytime soon)

MALE: A propaganda video shot inside a radical Maldives mosque and posted on the Internet has raised fears that Al Qaeda is gaining a foothold in the Indian Ocean tourist paradise. The video was recorded at the Dhar-al-Khuir mosque on the remote Himandhoo island. Under the catchline “Your brothers in the Maldives are calling you,” the trailer shows images of masked men praying. A follow-up feature is promised. Nick Grace, a counter-terrorism analyst said the propaganda video was an attempt to attract “finance and recruits” for militant activity in the Maldives.

LAHORE: My brother-in-law killed my sister because he did not like her fatness, said Muhammad Shahid, brother of Sobia on Monday. Sobia was killed on October 30. Yousaf, a resident of inside Bhaati Gate, called the police on October 30 that four armed men had robbed his niece Sobia and her husband Zahid. Zahid told the police the robbers had killed his wife after looting them. While resisting the robbery bid, he said, the robbers had also shot him (Zahid) in the arm. He told the police that the robbers had looted about 50 tola gold ornaments. On suspicion the police checked Zahid's telephone record. The police found that Zahid had called his friend Waheed 15 times on October 30. When the police interrogated Waheed, he told the police that Zahid had killed Sobia with his (Waheed's) cooperation. Zahid during interrogation told the police that he had killed Sobia because she was bulky.

We have also learned that the problem in dealing with the Islamist miscreants (Pakistan code speak for murdering, Muslim scum) has largely resulted from the inadequacy of the Frontier Guard. Now we learn that there's a SECRET PLAN for US special forces to increase training and $ in the region. Git 'r done, guys.

It's starting to look like it's soon going to beGAME ON in Swat and Shangla as 3 Swat villages’ residents are asked to leave

MINGORA: Three villages in Swat have started migrations following announcements by the army asking them to evacuate. Military asked people of Akhund, Dagai and Kabal Khas to evacuate, raising fears that the army was launching operation there. In Shangla, residents said troops fired mortars on the Manrai Sar area, where rebel cleric Maulana Fazlullah’s loyalists have taken up positions. Meanwhile, around 18 people, including 12 militants, were killed by shelling. The military also announced that at least 40 militants were injured when forces targeted two militant compounds in Kot Nawakally, reported AFP. Sources said forces have arrested four persons for spying for militants.

The VCOAS praised efforts by tribes to evict foreign elements from their area. He said support of the local people was critical for success in military operations to purge the area of miscreants and terrorists. He appealed to the people of Swat to extend their help in restoring normalcy. He ordered the local commanders to help provide medical facilities and look after victims of miscreants’ atrocities.

ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf has said Pakistan’s majority population was rural and supported the emergency rule, adding that some urban non-government organisations were rallying against the emergency rule.

And in Imran Khan news. He's still on his hunger strike and his sister is VERY WORRIED about him. (Give me a break, it's only been, what - two days?) And reports from the prison indicatehe enjoyed supper the previous evening.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Here are two brother countries, united like a single fist..."God willing, with the fall of the dollar, the deviant U.S. imperialism will fall as soon as possible, too," "As the imperialist press says, I came to look for an atomic bomb, and I've got it here. If anyone should cross me, I'll fire it."

It was not all boy hugging, jawboning, and saber rattling between the two psychos, some business did get done. In Tehran, Chavez and Ahmadinejad signed four memorandums of understanding Monday to create a joint bank, a fund, an oil industry technical training program and an industrial agreement, Iranian state television said. It said Chavez then left after an official farewell ceremony.

On Chavez's visit in July, the two leaders broke ground for a joint petrochemical complex in Iran, with 51 percent in Iranian ownership and 49 percent owned by Venezuela. The two nations also began construction of a petrochemical complex in Venezuela, at a total combined cost of $1.4 billion.

Since 2001, the two countries have signed more than 180 trade agreements, worth more than $20 billion in potential investment, according to official reports.

Iran has partnered with Venezuela on several industrial projects in the South American nation, including the production of cars, tractors and plastic goods.

Real GDP grew at a strong 3.9 percent in the third quarter of 2007. The economy has now experienced six years of uninterrupted growth, averaging 2.8 percent a year since 2001.

Real after-tax per capita personal income has risen by 12.7 percent – an average of over $3,800 per person – since President Bush took office.Real wages rose 1.2 percent over the 12 months that ended in September. This rise is faster than the average rate during the 1990s.

Since the first quarter of 2001, productivity growth has averaged 2.6 percent per year. This growth is well above average productivity growth in the 1990s, 1980s, and 1970s.The deficit today is at 1.2 percent of GDP, well below the 40-year average. Economic growth contributed to a 6.7 percent rise in tax receipts in FY 2007, following an increase of 11.8 percent in FY 2006.

JALPAIGURI: A 36-year-old man married his teenage daughter and made her pregnant, justifying his perverse act by claiming he had divine sanction for his incestuous lust. What's even more galling is that his wife was the prime witness in the nikah of her daughter to her husband. Afazuddin Ali's wedding happened quietly and understandably without fanfare, so none in Kasiajhora village of Jalpaiguri district knew. But now, six months later, as the girl showed signs of pregnancy, eyebrows were raised, tongues started wagging and word finally got out.Outrage and anger swept across the village and there was even talk of attacking the family. Sensing that things could quickly get out of control, cops from the Banerhat police station rushed in and arrested Ali, his wife Sakina and their 15-year-old daughter. The three were taken to an SDO's court on Monday but the hapless magistrate had to release them because he had no criminal jurisdiction; there was no complainant and police strangely did not bring a case of statutory rape against Ali. "Police has not lodged any specific case and the court does not have jurisdiction over criminal cases. So they were released unconditionally," said the SDO, Atanu Kumar Ray.

Don't worry Mississippi. You'll be relevant soon, along with Missouri, Tennessee and New York.

The three might not be hotbeds of activity during the 2008 presidential primary contest, but they were announced today as the sites of the general election debates. That will make them must-visit places for the media throng that covers such things.

In a statement today, Paul G. Kirk Jr. and Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., the co-chairs of the presidential debate commission, said the three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate would take place as follows:

An estimated 500,000 people have downloaded the insult featuring the words "Why don't you shut up?", generating a reported 1.5m euros ($2m)...Branded mugs, t-shirts and websites featuring the row are also profitable.

In Venezuela, a group of students who oppose Mr Chavez's government have also been downloading the ringtone, a US newspaper reported.

"It's a form of protest," a 21-year-old student in Caracas told the Miami Herald. "It's something that a lot of people would like to tell the president."Companies selling the ringtones have avoided legal problems concerning breach of the king's image rights by using an actor to voice the line.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will meet with Arab nations to discuss an Iranian plan to enrich uranium outside the region in a neutral country, such as Switzerland, Ahmadinejad said Nov. 18 in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires ahead of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries summit. Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey, who has said her country recognizes Iran's right to peaceful nuclear technology, recently has been attempting to facilitate talks between Tehran and Washington.

Taliban hang cop bodies in trees as warning to locals.Gazak Village/Derawud district: Taliban militants tortured five abducted policemen in southern Afghanistan and hung their mutilated bodies from trees in a warning to villagers against working with the government, officials said Sunday... "The Taliban told the people that whoever works with the government will suffer the same fate as these policemen," Himat said. "This village is under Taliban control. There are more than 100 Taliban in this village."

Military officials said an unspecified number of soldiers and a paramilitary force were headed to the town of Parachinar, in the remote Kurram tribal area, where the government maintains limited control.

Both sides fired mortars and other heavy weapons at each other, targeting residential areas and hitting mosques, an intelligence official speaking on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press.

Violence between Shiites and Sunnis is common in Parachinar.(Violence among MUSLIMS seems to be common the world over!)

We know that Musharraf is visiting Saudi Arabia tomorrow - it is now rumored that he will also be meeting withopposition leader,Nawaz Sharif. (Sharif is in exile - his rule of Pakistan ended with a Musharraf led coup d'etat back in 1999)

Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, will be in Saudi Arabia tomorrow to meet with King Abdullah and he may hold talks with former Pakistani premier and leader of the opposition, Nawaz Sharif, who lives in exile in the Kingdom. The visit has been announced in Riyadh by the official Saudi news agency SPA. This will be Musharraf's first visit abroad since he announced the state of emergency on 3 November. In the Pakistani media, a possible encounter between Musharraf and Sharif was announced with Saudi mediation. Collaborators of the ex-premier have announced that the only purpose for the meeting could be the finalization of a strategy for the unconditional political retreat of the Pakistani president. Sharif has indicated that he has already refused the request to meet Musharraf twice.

Sharif has remained in Jeddah since he was put on a flight to Saudi Arabia in September after Pakistani authorities blocked his attempted return from exile.

Unlike Pakistan's other main opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, Sharif has steadfastedly refused to have any negotiations with Musharraf.

Saudi unhappiness at being asked to keep Sharif in exile was heightened by Musharraf's readiness to allow Bhutto to return to Pakistan last month without fear of prosecution in old corruption cases, according to diplomats and Pakistani officials.

From LGFvia Robert Spencer(this is too important not to spread the word, people.)According to the 2006 FBI report on "hate related crimes" Jews are 5 times more likely to suffer hate crimes than Muslims (and whitey is not far behind them. It's disturbing to see the number of Anti-Black crimes though...I really wish we could all just get along).

It's been less than a week since New York's Sen. Hillary Clinton and Gov. Eliot Spitzer had to climb down from their support of driver's licenses for illegal aliens. Now House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has moved to kill an amendment that would protect employers from federal lawsuits for requiring their workers to speak English. Among the employers targeted by such lawsuits: the Salvation Army.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, a moderate Republican from Tennessee, is dumbstruck that legislation he views as simple common sense would be blocked. He noted that the full Senate passed his amendment to shield the Salvation Army by 75-19 last month, and the House followed suit with a 218-186 vote just this month. "I cannot imagine that the framers of the 1964 Civil Rights Act intended to say that it's discrimination for a shoe shop owner to say to his or her employee, 'I want you to be able to speak America's common language on the job,' " he told the Senate last Thursday.

But that's exactly what the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is trying to do. In March the EEOC sued the Salvation Army because its thrift store in Framingham, Mass., required its employees to speak English on the job. The requirement was clearly posted and employees were given a year to learn the language. The EEOC claimed the store had fired two Hispanic employees for continuing to speak Spanish on the job. It said that the firings violated the law because the English-only policy was not "relevant" to job performance or safety.

The federal government may have a $25 million reward for fugitive terrorist Osama bin Laden, but a retired city cop says the Department of Motor Vehicles has banned his "GETOSAMA" vanity license plates as offensive.

Arno Herwerth, 42, a retired NYPD sergeant from Hauppauge, in Suffolk County, told The Post he's flabbergasted by the DMV's kibosh, terming the agency's move as "unpatriotic" and political correctness run amok.

Artillery and helicopter gunships pounded positions of militants in Swat and Shangla districts on Sunday amid reports of civilian casualties in Shakardara and Thotano Banda areas.With no major ground offensive taken during the day, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) claimed a number of militants had been killed in different places.It said that 120 militants had been killed in fierce clashes over the past four to five days. The militants denied the claim and said that only nine of their men had been killed.Meanwhile, the militants are reported to have kidnapped five people, including arms dealer Fazal Hakim, Matta traders’ leader Shah Rawan and car dealer Abdul Qayyum. It is believed that they were critical of the militants and had nationalist inclinations.

“Militants’ strongholds in Jatkot near Kuza Banda and Bariam Bridge near Matta were pounded by helicopter gunships. A number of miscreants were killed,” said a government spokesman.In the adjoining Shangla district, militants continued to control the district headquarters of Alpuri. Although they left Puran, the hometown of former federal minister Amir Muqam, they held positions on heights outside the town.Some people from Alpuri said the militants were entrenched on hilltops overlooking a key road linking the town with Bisham from where troops have been advancing.The ISPR claimed that security forces had consolidated their positions at Rheem Sar Banda, about 6km from Shangla, which they had secured after an operation.

A jirga of elders and political leaders requested both the sides to cease fire.

The Bakakhel Wazir and Gurbaz tribes of the Bannu Frontier Region on Sunday decided to take action against militants attacking security forces in the area.A jirga of the two tribes was held in Bakakhel Mandi which decided that houses of people found involved in attacks on security forces would be demolished and they would be fined Rs500,000.The jirga said that the violators would also be expelled from the area.

Pakistan Monday said as a responsible nuclear weapons state Pakistan has always attached great significance to the security of its strategic assets.Commenting on a news published in ‘The New York Times’ titled “US Secretly Aids Pakistan in Guarding Nuclear Arms”, Foreign Office Spokesman Muhammad Sadiq said it gives distorted and exaggerated picture of Pakistan’s efforts to learn from best practices of other countries with regard to their nuclear safety and export controls.

"Inshallah (God willing), the general elections would be held on January 8," a government statement quoted General Musharraf as telling supporters in Karachi amid rumours of a possible meeting between him and Ms Bhutto. Both General Musharraf and Ms Bhutto were in the city at the same time following the departure from Pakistan of top US diplomat John Negroponte.

PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto appears to have softened her attitude towards President Pervez Musharraf following a visit by a top US envoy to Islamabad, which aimed at promoting reconciliation between her and the general.Although still critical of Gen Musharraf, Ms Bhutto said in an interview to CNN on Sunday that she was waiting for him to respond to the message Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte brought from Washington.

PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto could soon be facing the same corruption charges that have forced her into exile for more than eight years, according to a report published in The Sunday Times.TST correspondent Christina Lamb quoting Attorney-General Malik Mohammad Qayyum said that a government amnesty lifting the charges – which enabled Ms Bhutto to return to the country last month – was legally invalid and was likely to be overturned.“I don’t think it will survive the challenge,” Mr Qayyum told the TST. Quoting Ms Bhutto, the TST correspondent said she was unconcerned.

The caretaker Pakistan cabinet has decided to release all the detained political workers and leaders with the announcement of the schedule for the general elections. In its first meeting chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Muhammadmian Soomro, the cabinet directed Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Syed Afzaal Haider to start co-ordinating with the provincial governments and all concerned for the release of political workers, lawyers, human rights activists and students taken into protective custody since the proclamation of emergency.

Defying a growing crackdown on dissent by President Pervez Musharraf, young Pakistanis are using blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook to hit back at a state of emergency. Plans for “flash” protests in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and other cities are being posted at the last minute to skirt a ban on all political rallies under repressive emergency laws. The Internet has become a vital tool for them, with the government shutting down the country’s biggest two private television news channels on Sunday and rounding up thousands of opposition leaders.

Benazir, US Envoy visit Geo (I don't know - it sounds like democracy is alive and well in Pak. They even have a protest camp! Paging Code Pink)

U.S. Ambassador in Pakistan, N W Patterson and Pakistan Peoples Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto Monday visited Geo News offices here.US envoy expressed her grave concern over suspension of Geo News transmission and said that media could not be restrained.Benazir Bhutto recorded her comments in a book placed at the protest camp set up by Geo Network.

The Pakistani Supreme Court threw out legal challenges today to last month's re-election of President Pervez Musharraf, paving the way for him to step down as head of the army and to lead the country as a civilian.It was a widely expected ruling from a high court packed with justices loyal to Musharraf, who put Pakistan under an official state of emergency Nov. 3.

We're floundering in a quagmire in Iraq. Our strategy is flawed, and it's too late to change it. Our resources have been squandered, our best people killed, we're hated by the natives and our reputation around the world is circling the drain. We must withdraw.

No, I'm not channeling Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. I'm channeling Osama bin Laden, for whom the war in Iraq has been a catastrophe. Al-Qaida had little presence in Iraq during the regime of Saddam Hussein. But once he was toppled, al-Qaida's chieftains decided to make Iraq the central front in the global jihad against the Great Satan.

"The most important and serious issue today for the whole world is this third world war, which the Crusader-Zionist coalition began against the Islamic nation," Osama bin Laden said in an audiotape posted on Islamic Web sites in December 2004. "It is raging in the land of the Two Rivers. The world's millstone and pillar is Baghdad, the capital of the caliphate."

Jihadis, money and weapons were poured into Iraq. All for naught. Al-Qaida has been driven from every neighborhood in Baghdad, Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil, the U.S. commander there, said Nov. 7. This follows the expulsion of al-Qaida from two previous "capitals" of its Islamic Republic of Iraq, Ramadi and Baquba.

Al-Qaida is evacuating populated areas and is trying to establish hideouts in the Hamrin mountains in northern Iraq, with U.S. and Iraqi security forces, and former insurgent allies who have turned on them, in hot pursuit. Forty-five al-Qaida leaders were killed or captured in October alone.

Al-Qaida's support in the Muslim world has plummeted, partly because of the terror group's lack of success in Iraq, more because al-Qaida's attacks have mostly killed Muslim civilians."Iraq has proved to be the graveyard, not just of many al-Qaida operatives, but of the organization's reputation as a defender of Islam," said StrategyPage.

There's more at the link.

(P.S. My stepmother aka Mad Madge made the quagmire comparison during her recent visit. I almost came across the dining room table at her. She also said "Vietnam". I told her she really had to get out on the interwebs more.)

Sunday, November 18, 2007

On 24 October 2007, crewmembers aboard a Reagan-Washington National to Milwaukee General Mitchell International Airport flight reported to a Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) flying in non-mission status that they noticed suspicious behavior by four passengers.

One of the subjects entered and exited the rear aircraft lavatory three times and failed to comply with crewmembers' verbal instructions. The FFDO seated himself near this subject to observe his behavior. Shortly afterward, two more of the subjects moved into the aisles and entered both lavatories. After one of the subjects vacated the rear left lavatory, the FFDO searched it, noting that the mirror above the sink was not properly latched.

He exited the lavatory and a fourth subject was waiting second in line with a passenger in front of him. The FFDO offered the fourth subject access to the right lavatory, but the subject declined, claiming the right lavatory was dirty. The FFDO noted the right lavatory was clean, and the subject reluctantly entered the right lavatory and remained there for an extended period of time. (TSA/SD-10-3849-07)

(U//FOUO) TSA Office of Intelligence Comment: Although there is no information that the aircraft was being specifically targeted for a future terrorist attack, the actions of the four passengers are highly suspicious. FFDO confirmation of possible tampering of the lavatory mirror in one of the lavatories could be indicative of an attempt to locate concealment areas for smuggling criminal contraband or terrorist materials. In this case, it appears the left lavatory was the sole area of interest for the passengers. One subject's excuse that the right lavatory was dirty when it was confirmed to be clean shows the four passengers had a specific, operational objective. Although unconfirmed at this time, this incident has many of the elements of pre-operational terrorist planning....Testing, testing, testing.

Majlis Research Center has called for the approval of a law by Majlis, based on which Iran’s Foreign Ministry would be obliged to publicize US human rights violations.In a report, the center’s Office for Political Studies elaborated on instances of human rights violations in the US, ISNA reported.The center noted that many human rights bodies, including Amnesty International and the United Nations Human Rights Commission, have expressed serious concerns over these violations. “This is while Washington constantly interferes in the internal affairs of other countries on the pretext of rights violation,“ he said. Majlis Research Center recommended Majlis to entitle the Foreign Ministry to prepare an annual report on human rights violations in the US. The report said Iran is entitled to direct the attention of Amnesty International and other world bodies to such violations and condemn the US in the UN General Assembly.